The Nation

election 2013

Minneapolis residents will face two amendments on the ballot next Tuesday that the Minneapolis City Charter Commission says would shorten and ‘modernize’ the language of the near century-old City Charter.

Next week, Minneapolis will vote on whether or not to adopt a new ‘Plain Language’ version of its city charter. The Charter Commission is proposing twoamendments on the ballot which completely rewrite and modernize the City’s Charter. The Commission says this new revision eliminates outdated details (the original version was written almost a century ago), clarifies ambiguous language, and re-organizes information, making it easier to reference, while at the same time preserving the way Minneapolis has traditionally been governed. This means there are no changes to the roles of the Mayor, the City Council, or the roles of our independent Boards, such as the Parks Board and the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Careful attention has been applied to this revision process (watch video), which has taken over a decade to complete, but is it possible to preserve all of the same parameters of governance in this new charter draft that is merely one third the length of its predecessor? Is simplicity a virtue in the city’s supreme legal document? City Attorney, Susan Segal has stated that she sees ‘more risk than benefit,’ but can anyone really know without putting the new charter to the test? If adopted, there would be one year between the time the new charter draft is adopted to the time it is implemented. This would give the City Council and the City’s Independent Boards time to respond to any resulting ambiguities left by the new language and pass clarifying ordinances.

This revision proposal is not without precedent. St. Paul drafted and adopted an updated City Charter in 1972, and just two years later Minnesotans took an affirmative vote to redraft the Minnesota State Constitution. Has the last four decades been enough time for Minneapolis to catch up? Can its residents be confident this plain language draft will serve them the same as the current charter has?TruthToTell’s Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi discuss this and more with this Monday’s guests.

On-air guests:

DAVID TILSEN – Member, Minneapolis Farmer-Labor Association; former Mpls. School Board member

Next week, Minneapolis will vote on whether or not to adopt a new ‘Plain Language’ version of its city charter. The Charter Commission is proposing two amendments on the ballot which completely rewrite and modernize the City’s Charter. The Commission says this new revision eliminates outdated details (the original version was written almost a century ago), clarifies ambiguous language, and re-organizes information, making it easier to reference, while at the same time preserving the way Minneapolis has traditionally been governed. This means there are no changes to the roles of the Mayor, the City Council, or the roles of our independent Boards, such as the Parks Board and the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Careful attention has been applied to this revision process (watch video), which has taken over a decade to complete, but is it possible to preserve all of the same parameters of governance in this new charter draft that is merely one third the length of its predecessor? Is simplicity a virtue in the city’s supreme legal document? City Attorney, Susan Segal has stated that she sees ‘more risk than benefit,’ but can anyone really know without putting the new charter to the test? If adopted, there would be one year between the time the new charter draft is adopted to the time it is implemented. This would give the City Council and the City’s Independent Boards time to respond to any resulting ambiguities left by the new language and pass clarifying ordinances.

This revision proposal is not without precedent. St. Paul drafted and adopted an updated City Charter in 1972, and just two years later Minnesotans took an affirmative vote to redraft the Minnesota State Constitution. Has the last four decades been enough time for Minneapolis to catch up? Can its residents be confident this plain language draft will serve them the same as the current charter has?TruthToTell’s Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi discuss this and more with this Monday’s guests.

On-air guests:

DAVID TILSEN – Member, Minneapolis Farmer-Labor Association; former Mpls. School Board member

It’s week one of KFAI’s Fall Pledge Drive! Call in on Monday morning to pledge your support at 612-341-9030 ordonate now online.

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With all the media attention the upcoming, highly-contested Minneapolis Mayoral Race is getting, isn’t it about time we all ask ourselves, how important is the mayoral office in implementing change? TTT’s Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi discussthe key people, institution, and otherwise that are making things happen in Minnesota’s biggest city. More importantly, we discuss with our panelists and audience members ‘Who should run Minneapolis?’ We consider what all of our roles are as citizens, voters, tax-payers, parents, students, and the like.How do we make Minneapolis a city that truly works for everyone? Join us for this important pre-election discussion.

TTT partners with the Community Development Club and the Center for Civic Engagement at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College to present this one-of-a-kind public forum.

TruthToTell: Community Connections is made possible by a generous grant from the Bush Foundation, which has enabled TruthToTell to partner with KFAI Fresh Air Radio, St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), and selected community partners to present these discussions and dialogues on important issues like education, the environment, health care, politics and elections, transportation, Native concerns, youth issues and more, into the key communities affected by these respective topics for radio, television and online distribution.

What is it about mental illness that makes people turn a blind eye to the realities around them – yes, most probably in their families or themselves? Why have we as a species come to see behavioral health as something to run away from, not only as a blot on the rest of our families, but somehow raising questions that some sort of inherited mental illness will get us locked up or killed – as too many Americans with mental illness have been?

A crisis? Absolutely, and the tougher the times, the worse the crises. And we’ve criminalized mental illness such that those acting out are too often shot down by police officers.

But those are just a few of the issues facing us when, according to research from the Wilder Foundation, “the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)estimated that 45.1 million adults, or nearly 20 percent of the population, had a mental illness in the past year; 11 million adults had a serious mental illness in the past year. Additionally, nearly 9 million adults had a substance use disorder in the previous year.”

Applying SAMHSA’s estimates to the number of adults in Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington Counties, Wilder reports, it is estimated that 245,800 adults living in the East Metro alone had a mental illness in the past year with an estimated 59,300 adults having a serious mental illness, and 49,170 had a substance abuse problem in the past year.

(Serious mental illnesses are diagnosable mental disorders that interfere with or limit one or more major life activities for adults. Conditions include bipolar disorder, dual diagnosis, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia.)

Now, on this beginning day of Mental Health Awareness Week, we talk with those dealing with mental health crises, urgent care for mental health, and even mental illness itself to get us thinking about how we can stop this business of adding stigma upon stigma to a society so wracked by some form of mental illness. And just what IS emotional CPR?

TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI try to make sense of an sickness that takes such a back seat to all other human ailments.

It’s week one of KFAI’s Fall Pledge Drive! Call in on Monday morning to pledge your support at 612-341-9030 ordonate now online.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With all the media attention the upcoming, highly-contested Minneapolis Mayoral Race is getting, isn’t it about time we all ask ourselves, how important is the mayoral office in implementing change? TTT’s Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi discussthe key people, institution, and otherwise that are making things happen in Minnesota’s biggest city. More importantly, we discuss with our panelists and audience members ‘Who should run Minneapolis?’ We consider what all of our roles are as citizens, voters, tax-payers, parents, students, and the like.How do we make Minneapolis a city that truly works for everyone? Join us for this important pre-election discussion.

TTT partners with the Community Development Club and the Center for Civic Engagement at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College to present this one-of-a-kind public forum.

TruthToTell: Community Connections is made possible by a generous grant from the Bush Foundation, which has enabled TruthToTell to partner with KFAI Fresh Air Radio, St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), and selected community partners to present these discussions and dialogues on important issues like education, the environment, health care, politics and elections, transportation, Native concerns, youth issues and more, into the key communities affected by these respective topics for radio, television and online distribution.

Who are the key people, or institutions that are making things happen in Minnesota's biggest city? More importantly, we'll discuss with our panelists and audience members 'Who should run Minneapolis?' We'll consider what all of our roles are as citizen, voters, tax-payers, parents, students, and the like. How do we make Minneapolis a city that truly works for everyone?

TruthToTell's Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi get perspective on municipal power in Minneapolis from a community organizer, city official, independent journalist, and an academic in the 8th forum of the Community Connections series. Wedneday, October 9 at 7pm at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

Join us at Minneapolis Community and Technical College on Wednesday, October 9, 6:30-7:30pm.

With all the media attention the upcoming, highly-contested Minneapolis Mayoral Race is getting, isn’t it about time we all ask ourselves, how important is the mayoral office in implementing change? Who are the key people or institutions that are making things happen in Minnesota’s biggest city? More importantly, we’ll discuss with our panelists and audience members thoughts on ‘Who should run Minneapolis?’ We’ll consider what all of our roles are as citizens, voters, tax-payers, parents, students, and the like. How do we make Minneapolis a city that truly works for everyone? Join us for this important pre-election discussion.

TTT partners with the Community Development Club and the Center for Civic Engagement at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College to present this one-of-a-kind televised public forum. This event is free and open to the public to attend and participate. Light refreshments will be served.

Show audio will be streamed live from 7:00-8:30PM October 9. Interested stations and individuals should inquire with Andy or Michelle for information on streaming. Additional distribution will come on TruthToTell’s regular air slot at 9:00 AM on October 14 on KFAI, and on television at 8:00 PM on October 14 on SPNN St. Paul Cable Channel 19, and MTN Minneapolis Cable Channel 16. Subsequent broadcasts will also be available to northern metro suburban cable subscribers and online.

TruthToTell: Community Connections is made possible by a generous grant from the Bush Foundation, which has enabled TruthToTell to partner with KFAI Fresh Air Radio, St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), and selected community partners to present these discussions and dialogues on important issues like education, the environment, health care, politics and elections, transportation, Native concerns, youth issues and more, into the key communities affected by these respective topics for radio, television and online distribution.